Top 10 Tips to Stay Safe During an Epidemic1疫情期間保持安全的十大訣竅

Janet Raloff 梁小明

★ Dont panic. From flu to COVID-19， these key steps can limit your risk of most infections2. Experts repeat it over and over. The first line of defense is washing your hands. During an epidemic， you cant be too clean.

*不要恐慌。從流感到新型冠狀病毒肺炎（COVID-19），下面這些關鍵步驟可以限制住大多數感染的風險。專家們一遍又一遍地重復。第一道防線是洗手。在疫情期間，越愛干凈越好。

Whether bird flu， COVID-19， MERS or Zika， the threat of a serious epidemic can strike fear in people across the globe. Its wise to respect these infections. After all， each can seriously sicken people. Still， theres no reason to panic. You can protect yourself by practising good hygiene3.

Heres what infectious-disease experts and officials at the World Health Organization advise：

無論是禽流感、新型冠狀病毒肺炎、中東呼吸綜合征（MERS）還是寨卡病毒（Zika），嚴重流行病的威脅都會在全球范圍內引起人們的恐慌。重視這些傳染病是明智的。畢竟，每種傳染病都會讓人得重病。不過，沒有理由恐慌。你可以通過保持良好的衛生習慣來保護自己。

以下是世界衛生組織的傳染病專家和官員的建議：

1. Wash your hands！

洗手！

Often. Assume that sneezes or germy4 hands have left infectious residues5 on every surface that you have not personally cleaned or seen cleaned （especially outside your home）. Scrub6 away for 20 seconds. （Sing the Happy Birthday Song twice—and not quickly—while you wash.） Dont forget to wash between fingers and under nails. If soap and water is unavailable， you can disinfect7 hands with an alcohol-based8 hand sanitizer9. Another option： If you have to turn a door knob， put a clean tissue or paper towel between the knob and your hand.

要經常洗手。假設打噴嚏或沾有細菌的手，在每個你沒有親自清洗或看到清洗過的（尤其是在你家外面的）物體表面留下了有傳染性的殘留物。要清洗20秒。（洗手的時候可以唱兩遍生日歌——不要唱得太快。）別忘了洗手指之間和指甲縫里。如果沒有肥皂和水，可以用含酒精的洗手液給雙手消毒。你還有另一個選擇：如果你必須轉動門把手，那你可以用干凈的紙巾隔在門把手和你的手之間。

2. Disinfect surfaces.

消毒表面。

These include desk tops， mobile phones， computer keyboards， TV remotes10， door handles and kitchen counters. Rub them down with a rag or paper towel that has been dampened11 with alcohol-based disinfectant12.

包括桌面、手機、電腦鍵盤、電視遙控器、門把手和廚房柜臺。用沾有酒精消毒劑的抹布或紙巾擦拭。

3. Dont eat food or handle dishes or utensils touched by a sick family member.

不要吃生病的家人碰過的食物，也不要拿他們碰過的盤子或器皿。

If you must touch a spoon someone else has handled （but not had in their mouth）， do so. Then wash your hands.

如果你一定要碰別人拿過（但未曾被他們放進嘴里）的勺子，那就這樣做吧。然后你要洗手。

4. Dont share a towel with anyone in your household who is sick.

不要和家里生病的人共用毛巾。

Get your own and make sure it is washed regularly with hot water. Dry towels in the sun or a hot dryer cycle.

When anyone in your home has an infectious disease， dont risk spreading it with a contaminated13 towel. Everyone in the family should have their own and get it washed frequently.

使用自己的毛巾，并確保定期用熱水清洗它們。把毛巾放在陽光下曬干或用烘干機烘干。

當你家里有人得了傳染病時，不要冒險使用被污染的毛巾導致疾病傳播。家里每個人都應該有自己的毛巾，而且要經常清洗。

5. Dont shake hands， kiss or hug people.

不要握手、親吻或擁抱別人。

This is the time for nodding and smiling. Or smile from an arms distance.

現在應該點頭微笑，或者站在一臂的距離外微笑。

6. Dont touch your face.

別摸你的臉。

Its hard not to. Most people do it without thinking several times each hour. But germs14 you pick up from touching a contaminated surface may begin reproducing as soon as they contact moist areas of our eyes， nose and mouth.

很難不這么做。大多數人在每小時里想都沒想就摸了幾次。但是，你接觸到的被污染的物體表面的細菌，一旦接觸到我們的眼睛、鼻子和嘴巴的潮濕區域，就可能開始繁殖。

7. Avoid crowds.

避開人群。

If you must go out where plenty of people are present， whenever possible keep a coughs distance away from them—at least a meter. Someone near to you may be infected and show no symptoms15.

如果你一定得去有很多人出現的地方，盡可能遠離人群咳嗽會波及的距離——至少一米以上。你身邊的人可能已經感染了，但沒有任何癥狀。

8. Wear gloves while out in public.

在公共場合戴手套。

Dont touch the outside of the gloves when you remove them. And once home， wash the gloves in hot water （but dont dry wool ones with heat or theyll shrink）. Disposable latex16 or other types of plastic gloves can be reused several times if you spray17 the outside with an alcohol-based disinfectant right before taking them off.

摘下手套時不要觸摸手套的外面。回到家后，用熱水清洗手套（但不要烘干羊毛手套，否則手套會縮水）。一次性乳膠手套或其他類型的塑料手套可以重復使用幾次，但你要在取下手套之前用酒精消毒劑噴灑手套的外面。

9. Dont share papers.

不要觸摸同一張紙。

Now is the time to use digital documents. If your teachers dont ask you to do homework on a computer， suggest it. When it comes to the daily mail， dispose18 of envelopes and any papers you dont need as soon as you can. And then wash your hands.

現在是使用數字文檔的時候了。如果你的老師沒要求你在電腦上寫家庭作業，你可以建議老師這樣做。對于每日的郵件，你要盡快處理掉信封和任何你不需要的紙張，然后洗手。

10. Practise good hygiene.

保持良好的衛生習慣。

Wash your hands. Cough and sneeze into your elbow. Keep in mind that you may become infected and show no symptoms. This means you might be able to infect people at high risk of serious disease， such as an elderly grandparent or a classmate with asthma19.

Finally， what about masks？ Viruses can pass through the materials in most masks. There are some very expensive types （known as N-95 and KN-95）. They should be reserved to help those on the frontlines of disease—doctors and nurses. Cheaper surgical20 masks tend to help healthy people. Their biggest benefit is keeping away the release of infected droplets21 of saliva22 and snot from people who are already ill.

要洗手。咳嗽或者打噴嚏時用肘部捂住口鼻。記住，你可能已經被感染但沒有任何癥狀。這意味著你可能會感染那些有嚴重疾病高風險的人，比如年邁的祖父母或患有哮喘的同學。

最后，那么口罩呢？病毒可以穿透大多數口罩的材料。有一些非常昂貴的口罩（如N-95和KN-95），但是它們應該留著幫助那些奮戰在疾病前線的醫生和護士。更便宜的外科口罩能幫助健康的人。它們最大的用處是阻擋已經患病的人分泌出的有感染性的唾液和鼻涕的飛沫。

（英語原文選自：www.sciencenewsforstudents.org）

【Notes】

1. epidemic [?????] n. 傳染病;流行病 ?adj. 流行的;傳染性的

2. infection [?????] n. 感染;傳染 3. hygiene [?????] n. 衛生;衛生學

4. germy [?????] adj. 帶有細菌的 5. residue [?????] n. 殘渣;殘留物

6. scrub [?????] vi. 擦洗;進行手臂消毒 7. disinfect [?????] vt. 將……消毒

8. alcohol [?????] n. 酒精，乙醇 ?alcohol-based adj. 醇基;含酒精的

9. sanitizer [?????] n. 消毒殺菌劑 ?hand sanitizer洗手液

10. remote [?????] n. 遙控器 11. dampen [?????] vt. 使……潮濕

12. disinfectant [?????] n. 消毒劑

13. contaminated [?????] adj. 受污染的，弄臟的

14. germ [?????] n. 細菌 15. symptom [?????] n. 癥狀

16. disposable [?????] adj. 用完即可丟棄的

latex [?????] n. 乳膠

disposable latex glove一次性乳膠手套

17. spray [?????] vt. 噴出 18. dispose [?????] v. 處理;安排

19. asthma [?????] n. 哮喘，氣喘 20. surgical [?????] adj. 外科的

21. droplet [?????] n. 小滴，微滴;飛沫 22. saliva [?????] n. 唾液